I have an appointment with my DDS on April 6,2010. I will ask him to measure me for a custom mouth guard. What is the approximate cost of a custom made appliance? I know that he will quote me aprice however I have nothing to compare it to. Thanks & regards, Phil
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cost of a made to measure tmj appliance
That is a loaded question. TMJ can be caused by a plethora of causes. In my practice, invironmental stressors are the #1 cause. Bad bites are the main cause of TMJ in about 20% of the cases.
In men, maybe a higher percentage is caused by bad bites and trauma.
A TMJ splint that changes proprioception and reduces muscle contraction will reduce TMJ pains in almost every case. I used to believe that because pain was reduced with a splint, it must be a bad bite causing the TMJ problems.
That is not the case. So, if you were diagnosed that a bad bite is the problem after a month or two of TMJ splint therapy, then there's a higher possibility that a bad bite is the problem.
Invironmental stressors need to have a strong evaluation and ruled out before diagnosing that a bad bite is the problem.
Those are my opinions and thoughts.
$6000.00 is a bit high for TMJ Splint therapy. In my office, it costs about 1500.00 for splint therapy including the splint. So, it can be done properly for that amount of money.
It's typical to see TMJ Dentists charging 3500-6000.00, so you might want to look at other options. But before that, you might want to seek out a TMJ dentist that looks strongly at a dozen other factors before jumping into therapy to correct your bite.
Hope this helps. You can email me a TMJSpainhower at g mail dot com with any questions.
Dr. Spainhower
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tmj splint by: Anonymous
I have severe tmj and my dentist is reccommending a splint and the full mouth restoration, but the cost is 6000.00 what is your opinion on this
My dentist is Dr. James Clark in houston Texas.
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Cost of TMJ Appliance by: Anonymous
Hello Phil,
Thank you for asking.
The cost really can be anywhere from 300.00 to 1500.00 typically. But, usually the higher costs guards come with about 3-6 visits to adjust the appliance. For Example...
In my office, I charge 650.00 for the TMJ splint, then I charge about 100.00 for each future visit to evaluate and adjust the splint. Usually it ends up being around 1200-1500 dollars.
Now, that's a good price for an experienced TMJ Dentists' splint. I see splints as much as 4-5 thousand dollars.
If you're getting a soft custom made (flexible), generally it's not worth the money in my opinion. But they can be as much as 3-500 dollars. They are vulnerable to cause more problems.
So, your question is a hard question to pin down with accuracy, because you'll find a wide range of fees. If the fees are high, I would expect a thorough exam and follow visits that are high quality.
In the end...a 5000.00 dollar splint that works is worth it. Although you can find the 300 dollar splints work depending on the individuals' case and expertise of the doctor.
Look for the hard flat planed splints without bumps (cusp anatomy) in the back teeth area. They generally work better more often.
The NTI works great, for night time use only.
Or,
you can wait a few months to purchase my OTC TMJ Night Guard. It really is the best available by far Over The Counter at retail stores. I tested it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It will be available probably by June to the public. Estimated price will be approximatley 70 dollars.
